


The Best Bribe Ever

by eafay70



Category: Football RPF
Genre: Belgians, Fluff, M/M, Tottenham Hotspurs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-19
Updated: 2017-04-19
Packaged: 2018-10-21 01:08:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 624
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10674576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eafay70/pseuds/eafay70
Summary: Pochettino needs to make rooming assignments for an away match. Will he be swayed by Belgian chocolate?





	The Best Bribe Ever

**Author's Note:**

  * For [liefdewint](https://archiveofourown.org/users/liefdewint/gifts).



> Happy birthday! :D  
> Your requests for Belgians, Spurs, and Belgian Spurs have made me a very happy beta. WinterSnow10 told you how much fun these men are to write, and I'm here to second that motion. :)

It was another overcast day in London. For the fifth time that week, Mauricio Pochettino wished he could have brought the climate with him from Southampton. With a wistful sigh, he unlocked the door to his office – and was very surprised by the very strong smell of chocolate.

 

Even though Poch wasn’t the one playing in matches every weekend, he maintained a mostly healthy diet to encourage his players to pay attention to the nutritionists. He certainly didn’t keep chocolate in his office! It was a distraction from the important things he had to do, like decide on a rooming arrangement for their upcoming away match.

 

“¡Claro! ¡Mis diablos rojos!”

 

On the heels of his epiphany, the coach ran to his desk and couldn’t help smiling at the three boxes of Belgian chocolate that greeted him, each with a handwritten card. His red devils – as in, Spurs’ fabulous Belgians – were not above bribery to get the rooming arrangements they wanted. To be fair, none of the Spurs were above bribery, but the Belgians had the yummiest bribes.

 

He picked up the first card and read its message:

 

“Dear Gaffer,

Please put Toby and Jan in a room together. They like to Skype their mutual friends together before matches.”

 

The note didn’t have a signature, but Poch figured he could always compare the handwriting to his players’ signatures. However, he decided to read the next card:

 

“Dear Gaffer,

Please put Toby and Vincent in a room together. They are as adorable as any pair.”

 

Once again, no signature, so on to the final card:

 

“Dear Gaffer,

Please put Mousa as far away from his international teammates as possible. They are far too noisy in hotels, and Mousa would love a good night’s sleep before the match!”

 

While this note didn’t have a signature, either, Poch was fairly certain he recognized the handwriting. So he pulled out the Christmas card everyone on the squad had signed to accompany his present and began scanning the names. And sure enough, Mousa had written his own plea for distance!

 

Poch continued comparing the first two notes to the various messages on the card, but mumbling in the hallway led him to put that task aside and listen to his players gossiping on their way outside. (How else was he supposed to know what was going on in his players’ lives?)

 

“You want to intrude on my Dries time?!” Jan was clearly upset.

 

“I want advice on getting rid of this stupid Dutch crush!” Toby didn’t sound very happy, either.

 

Poch, however, grinned in delight and scanned the card for two specific names…yes!

 

Toby had written the first note so he could be there when Jan talked to Dries (yet another Belgian) in the hopes of getting rid of his crush on Vincent!

 

And how did Poch know the crush was on Vincent, besides the nationality detail? Because Jan had written the second note! He didn’t think the crush was stupid – he thought they’d be a good match, and Poch was inclined to agree.

 

Now to get to the rooming arrangements…

 

\--

 

Once everyone was on the bus, Poch proceeded to read the rooming assignments. “Room 201: Mousa and Harry Kane. Please do not Skype all night with the dogs.”

 

He read the rest of the rooms, noticing that most of the men were pleased with their assignments. The exceptions were, of course, the two people whose requests he hadn’t acknowledged yet.

 

“Room 231: Sonny and Jan. Room 235: Toby and Vincent.”

 

Sure enough, Jan looked very happy, while Toby looked ready to die of embarrassment – until Vincent whispered something, which led to Toby relaxing.

 

With a chuckle, Poch sat down. Klopp had nothing on him in the matchmaking department!

**Author's Note:**

> WinterSnow10 recently wondered how Belgian NT training sessions work with Dutch-speaking players and French-speaking players. I'm curious, too - anybody know? :)


End file.
